Saudi-led coalition says it intercepted Houthi missiles, drones attacking kingdom

The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed Tuesday it intercepted and destroyed ballistic missiles and drones launched at two areas of the kingdom by the Iran-aligned group, as the battle between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis escalates.

The coalition reported the Houthis launched three ballistic missiles toward the Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia and four drones toward the Southern Region of the kingdom.

Saudi Civil Defence warned of a possible hostile threat in the Eastern Region and in the governorate of Kharj, and later said the risk has passed in both places.

Last month, the Houthis captured key strategic areas along Yemen’s Red Sea coast, moving closer to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a critical global shipping lane for Gulf oil producers across the Arabian Peninsula from the Strait of Hormuz. Since then, Saudi Arabia has stepped up its strikes against the Houthis.

The two sides have resumed fire, shattering a 2022 UN-brokered truce that had largely kept strikes at bay between the Saudi-led coalition, which backs Yemen’s internationally recognised government, and the Houthis who control the capital Sanaa.

The escalation also opens up a new front in the US-Israeli attack on Iran.